Three victories mark Round 1 of FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Monaco
Sparks flew across all five boards in the first round of the third leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Monaco, with three players—Kateryna Lagno, Humpy Koneru, and Batkhuyag Munguntuul—emerging victorious. Their strong performances set the tone for what promises to be a fiercely competitive event.
The third leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2024-25 kicked off at 15:00 in the elegant Novotel Monte-Carlo. This event is one of the strongest in the series, with titans of women’s chess battling it out – including leg 2 winner Aleksandra Goryachkina, and the overall leader in the standings, Bibisara Assaubayeva. Unsurprisingly, the level of play in the first round was noted by commentators GM Alojzije Jankovic & IM Almira Skripchenko as being “extremely high” with complex position emerging across all five boards. Time trouble became a common thread throughout the games, where blunders were made in critical positions, leading to upsets and three decisive outcomes. Let’s take a closer look.
Round 1 results:
Kateryna Lagno 1-0 Aleksandra Goryachkina
Bibisara Assaubayeva ½-½ Sarasadat Khademalsharieh
Harika Dronavalli 0-1 Humpy Koneru
Elisabeth Paehtz ½-½ Zhongyi Tan
Batkhuyag Munguntuul 1-0 Alexandra Kosteniuk
Kateryna Lagno 1-0 Aleksandra Goryachkina
Fresh off her undefeated victory in the second leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Shymkent, Goryachkina entered the event as a tournament favorite. However, her opponent, Kateryna Lagno, came out swinging right off the bat and played a brilliant game, outplaying her opponent to score a full point. Lagno was well-prepared in a Two Knight Defense sideline, putting Black in a 30minute time deficit by move 8. Despite not seeming too comfortable out of the opening, Goryachkina held her own, navigating through unchartered waters. By move 12, multiple exchanges, including that of the queens, had taken place, leaving Black with an isolated e-pawn and slightly inferior position.
Nevertheless, the few pieces on the board did not mean that play was over, in fact, a positional battle ensued which revolved around Black’s weak pawn structure. Eventually, White obtained an advantage thanks to her more active rooks, but this quickly subsided as Black managed to steady her position to reach equality. But then, as we saw a few times this round, Goryachkina fell victim to time trouble and erred on move 39 – playing a seemingly practical move capturing White’s f-pawn when it was important to instead find a clever maneuver – something that could easily be overlooked in time trouble. Lagno capitalized on this mistake and executed the endgame flawlessly, taking down the tournament favorite.
Bibisara Assaubayeva ½-½ Sarasadat Khademalsharieh
As the current leader of the Grand Prix standings, Bibisara has the toughest task in this event – to extend her lead as much as possible, as this is her third and final leg. Her first game against Spain’s Sara Khadem started as a timid English, which quickly departed from known theory after move 9. In a joint interview, both players admitted that they were unsure about the opening, where Bibisara expressed dissatisfaction with her play.
Staying true to her style, Assaubayeva created an imbalanced position which gave Black a slight advantage according to the engine, but practically it was not easy to navigate but rather quite scary in fact. Both players made a few dubious decisions, which led to a complicated position where Black held a sizable advantage. But after an incorrect trade in which she exchanged her strongest piece the light-squared bishop for the knight, Black lost the advantage and after multiple trades, the game ended in a draw.
The result could have been better for both players, particularly for Sara, as she lost the opportunity to take down a very strong opponent. However, she remained in high spirits it was a day of celebration as her son, who is with her in Monaco, turned three today!
Harika Dronavalli 0-1 Humpy Koneru
The game started as a Four Knights Ruy Lopez and all seemed calm for the most part, particularly after multiple trades steering the game to a balanced endgame. But Harika was clearly pushing, even refusing a three-fold repetition, finding herself in a position with an isolated e-passer and more piece activity. Both players were playing with minutes left in their clock as they approached move 40, but interestingly, it was on the 41st move that Harika opted for the incorrect plan after spending 13 minutes.
In the situation of coming out of a time scramble, it is often difficult to compose one’s thoughts and remain calm. The advice is usually to relax after the additional time is granted and to take time to reassess the position. But there is always a danger of spending too much time on a move, which could lead to clouded thought and misjudgments. Perhaps this was Harika’s case, as Humpy grabbed a sizable advantage.
This advantage soon dissipated as Humpy opted for a passive continuation instead of pushing for attack with her active rooks, king blocking White’s passer and pawn majority on the kingside. Both players found themselves in time trouble again, exchanging inaccuracies, though it was Black who held the superior position. Harika, likely believing in her position with the passed pawn, once again refused a repetition – a critical error that Humpy responded to by finding the correct plan and eventually picking up White’s passer. After five hours of play, Humpy finally emerged victorious.
Elisabeth Paehtz ½-½ Tan Zhongyi
The first Petroff of the day was seen on board 4, quickly becoming a dynamic game after opposite-sides castling. White opted for a structure in which Black had an isolated pawn, but with the bishop pair. The commentators noted it was a tough position for Black to play, praising both players for entering this “high-level” position where both sides had chances. In an interview, Paehtz noted that her opponent could have posed some problems for White but followed the incorrect plan. Without either side being able to progress, the players eventually repeated moves, and a draw was agreed. This result is a big improvement from the last WGP leg for Paehtz, who lost her first-round game against Tan back then.
This is Tan’s final tournament before her FIDE Women’s World Championship Match against reigning World Champion Ju Wenjun in April. This relevance is twofold – her preparation is most likely in full swing already, making her warmed up for a strong performance, and a strong performance here is pivotal for confidence. In Shymkent, she held the lead for the most part, yet finished half a point behind Goryachkina. Despite the mild start, she is another tournament favorite, and it will be interesting to see how she progresses.
Batkhuyag Munguntuul 1-0 Alexandra Kosteniuk
The game between Munguntuul and Kosteniuk saw the first decisive blow, with White triumphing. The game started as a Petroff – the second of the day, where White took a moment in the opening to accept the e5-pawn; most likely surprised by her opponent’s opening choice. The game developed curiously, where White obtained an early advantage after Kosteniuk let her opponent to activate her pieces, obtaining a strong central knight. However, the advantage was quickly neutralized after Kosteniuk responded aggressively, sacrificing a piece for an attack. White declined the sacrifice, and soon they returned to a calmer and equal position, despite White being a pawn down.
The critical point came on move 20 when Kosteniuk spent 17 minutes, but the wrong choice handing White big advantage. Finding herself in time trouble, with mere minutes on the clock, Alexandra crumbled while Batkhuyag demonstrated precision to drive home the point. This was a stellar upset for Munguntuul who is rated 150 points below her opponent. It is often difficult for a chess player to remain calm in a situation where their opponent is in time trouble blitzing out moves, but the Mongolian kept her ship steady and scored a well-deserved victory. This was a tough loss for Kosteniuk, but the tournament is just getting started, and a comeback is most definitely possible.
Moment of the Day
The moment of the day was one of the most human ones, where Sara Khadem opted to win a pawn – a natural decision for any chess player, which ultimately led to her losing her advantage over Bibisara Assaubayeva.
Bibisara Assaubayeva – Sara Khadem
30…Bxf3? Black yielded to temptation and grabbed the d4-pawn at the cost of her strong light-squared bishop. However, after 31.Bxf3 Nxd4 32.Qe4! g6 33.Bxd4 the position became roughly equal.
Sara should have played 30…Na5! grabbing much more important b3-pawn after 31.dxc5 Rxc5 32.Bd4 Rc8 with a winning position.
Round two pairings and dates
The second round of the third leg in the 2024/25 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix series starts on Wednesday, February 19th at 15:00 CET local time in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.
Round 2 pairings:
Aleksandra Goryachkina – Alexandra Kosteniuk
Zhongyi Tan – Batkhuyag Munguntuul
Humpy Koneru – Elisabeth Paehtz
Sarasadat Khademalsharieh – Harika Dronavalli
Kateryna Lagno – Bibisara Assaubayeva
More information about the event, including the regulations and details of the pairings, as well as live games can be found on the official website: womengrandprix.fide.com.
You can follow the games live and watch the action with our wonderful commentators GM Alojzije Jankovic & IM Almira Skripchenko on YouTube.
Written by Charlize van Zyl
Photos: Niki Riga / FIDE_chess
Source: FIDE NEWS
